Celebrations as India unveils world’s tallest statue – in pictures

India has inaugurated the world’s tallest statue, a £314m effigy of the independence hero Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel that is nearly twice the height of New York’s Statue of Liberty. The 182-metre Statue of Unity in Gujarat is part of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party’s efforts to rebrand what it calls ‘forgotten’ leaders

The 182-metre (597ft) tall statue cost £314m to construct. Funding came from the federal government, state-run companies and other institutions. It took the construction company Larsen & Toubro 33 months to build

Helicopters shower flower petals on the monument. Depicting Patel in traditional attire, with a shawl over his shoulders, the statue used 210,000 cubic metres of cement, 25,000 tonnes of steel and 1,700 tonnes of bronze

Coloured balloons float around the statue. Some political commentators have criticised Modi for his expenditure on the statue at a time when the Adivasi indigenous people, who used to farm the land acquired for it, are struggling economically and have protested against it